Log: Sam and Wanda (Backdated)

[x-cannonball.livejournal.com]

Wanda comes to the mansion to talk to Sam.

The 'meeting' could have happened at the Snow Valley Offices, Wanda supposed, but considering Sam's actions outside the apartments, she was reluctant to have him on Snow Valley property. Still, when she arrived she was dressed as sharply as she would be in the offices. An expensive, well put together suit said a lot of things without her even needing to speak.

She'd spoken to Charles on the phone and he had graciously given her the full use of a small sitting room where she was waiting for Sam to arrive. Not much time had passed but she was using it to go over some documents that Columbia had sent her.

Sam tried to not keep Wanda waiting. He was dressed much more casually, just jeans and a t-shirt on. "Sorry if you were waiting long." He sat across from her. "And I'm sorry about the way I handled things with y'all... if you'd let them know too."

"I'm sorry, too," Wanda responded, making sure to mark her place in her notes for a later date. "Not because I would have reacted any differently but because I really, simply could not believe you were pulling such a foolish stunt in front of our building in the middle of the night."

"It was pretty out of character and I truly am sorry. That ain't the right way to express any sorts of feelings." Sam could only be sincere and let Wanda decide what she would. He couldn't expect forgiveness or understanding and if questioned he'd admit he still was somewhat resentful in general.

He might have sounded, and been, sincere but Wanda was still feeling a little bit at a lose. "So, now that you are not yelling at me while I am trying to read - care to give me a slightly condensed form?"

"Nothing you probably need to listen to or worry about. As much me being insecure as anything and I just threw it over there instead of where it belonged." In honest, Sam probably didn't have much of a problem with the people at Snow Valley. He knew they likely did look down on him but that didn't give him any right to judge them.

She stared at him. "Do you even understand of what you did? The only reason I really care at the moment of what happened back there is because you could have very well, if you had gone on any longer, called unwanted and undue attention on my people. Attention we attempt to avoid, Sam."

Wanda suddenly held up a hand and continued grimly. "And from what I recall from the other night and what I have heard since, I am not uncaring because I look down on you. I am uncaring because you could have simply called me and spoken to me as adults do. Your actions and not my thoughts about you dictated my feelings today."

Sam shook his head. "I think you've already made up your mind about all this. If you're here to be upset with me that's fine and I'm sure you figure I deserve it but I don't have much to say to that... just so you don't think me sitting here silently is rude."

"Do you know who I think has made up their mind in all of this?" Wanda leaned forward with a frown. "You. You seem to have decided to play judge and jury since the moment you wound up in front of our building. Despite the fact that we both spent time here at the mansion, please do not attempt to think you know me or my mind."

"Yeah, I see how y'all over there talk to me and look at me and I also see other people doing it too... and it's not all of you. But if you think I don't have a point... well, how many people threatened violence about it when it came up?" Sam knew people did even when he was there, to include Wanda.

And Wanda knew he was including her and instead of getting angry, she chuckled under her breath. "Oh, Samuel, you come looking for a fight on my doorstep and you act surprised when people seem ready to step up to the plate?" Her smile was sharp. "Hypocrisy seems just one of your problems with this entire situation. Did you ever stop to think about simply calling ahead? If you had concerns or were troubled by something, I would have welcomed you in with a glass of wine and we would have talked. But you didn't and your actions, not mine, dictated the path that we took."

"It wasn't exactly a planned out meeting and I'm taking responsibility for that. I lost my cool and that wasn't alright." He had already apologized for it and Sam didn't see any reason to do so over and over. He wasn't ready to take all the responsibility for the incident yet and he might never be.

"Nothing about it was 'alright', at least that much is correct. But you know, I did not really come over here to try and dissuade you from your reasoning. To be honest, I do not really care what your personal feelings are on myself or my co-workers. Your feelings do not affect me but your actions do."

It was amazing how fast her headache was spreading from this conversation. "As an X-Man, you are more privy to some of the things we do than others though I would appreciate it if you did not try to think you know everything about us. You do not. As an X-Man, we expect you to abide by the secrecy that we cultivate so we can do our jobs. Whatever your personal feelings on the matter are? They do not matter. Not now, not then and not in the future. What matters is that had you gone on, you could have brought the wrong attention to us in the place that we live."

"I was careful about what I said for that reason. Despite what people think, I'm not crazy." Sam simply wanted to end the conversation. It was becoming yet another where people didn't care to understand or do anything but talk down to him and now they felt justified, unlike before where he imagined they just felt capable.

"Careful? You were screaming at the top of your lungs. That is not the definition of careful." Wanda eyed him critically for a moment and then stood, shaking her head. "This is going nowhere. Whatever was wrong still might be wrong and while we used to know each other, I no longer think we do so I am not able to judge."

She paused and stared down at him. "I am not sure what your point of trying to prove yourself was that night. You almost proved that you were capable of putting us in potential danger, whether or not you actually believe it. Not quite something I would be proud about, to be sure."

"No one said I was proud... I figured you'd have come here to actually ask some questions instead of just to condemn me." Sam sighed and stood as well. "I know from your point of view it might not have seemed like I was watching myself at all but one person yelling in the city isn't newspaper worthy... Maybe us not knowing each other anymore ain't all me but this time it was certainly my fault." He stood politely as Wanda left.

"Questions?" She paused by the door and stared at him. "I tried and you stone walled me, Sam. I think someone in this room is judging someone and I think you may be missing the point of who it actually is."

Wanda slipped her materials into her purse and then paused. "One more thing. The Rom have always been outcasts and looked down upon. Mutants have been experiencing that as well. If I had reacted badly every time I thought someone believed I was beneath them or not worthy, I never would have had any free time or sanity left to me. As much as you might like to think it, Sam, you are not alone in those feelings. It's your actions that have put you into that feeling. I'd suggest you might want to think that over."